College student faces 15 sexual assault charges

A University of Wisconsin-Madison student already charged with four counts of sexual assault now faces 15 more counts after another student accused him of touching her inappropriately during class, according to police and court records.

Alec R. Cook, 20, of Edina, Minn., was charged Thursday with four counts of second-degree sexual assault, three counts of battery, and one count each of strangulation-suffocation and false imprisonment in connection with an incident Oct. 12, according to police and court records.

According to City of Madison Police, Cook was arrested after the incident in which he allegedly attacked a 20-year-old woman in his apartment in the 500 block of N. Henry Street.

Since his arrest, three more women have reported previous alleged assaults, including two, age 20, one who said he attacked her in his apartment in February, the other recounting an attack in the apartment in 2015, according to a Madison Police Department incident report.

The latest allegations involve a student who said Cook touched her inappropriately at least 15 times in class during the 2016 semester, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department.

Cook was in custody Monday in the Dane County Jail and the latest allegations have been referred to the Dane County District Attorney's Office, according to UW-Madison police.

He is scheduled for a bail hearing on Tuesday on the charges from the UW-Madison Police Department, as well as charges from the City of Madison Police Department.

Cook has been suspended from UW-Madison and as part of his bail conditions, he has been banned from all UW-Madison property, according to UW-Madison police.